Iced Tea Granita Food

GREEN TEA AND GINGER GRANITA

Steps:

• Bring a tea kettle, with 3 cups of water, to a boil over medium heat.
• In a heatproof bowl add the sugar, ginger and tea bags. Pour in 3 cups of boiling water. Stir to dissolve the sugar and let the tea bags steep until the liquid is cool. Strain and pour into an 8 by 8-inch metal cake pan and put it into the freezer. Check it after 45 minutes to 1 hour (depending on your freezer). Stir with a fork breaking up any ice crystals that have formed. Put the pan back into the freezer and continue checking and forking every 45 minutes to 1 hour until you have a container of ice shards.
• To make orange cups, slice the oranges in half and carefully remove the flesh with a spoon, making sure to keep the rinds intact. In a small bowl, muddle the orange flesh to get out the juice, then strain and reserve it for the "Rising Sun" cocktail recipe. Slice a bit of the bottom of each orange half so that it can stand upright. Put the orange rinds into the freezer.
• Once the granita is completely frozen, divide it evenly among the 4 orange halves and serve immediately.

ICED TEA GRANITA

Steps:

• Place tea bags in a large bowl and pour boiling water over tea bags; steep 10 minutes.
• Remove and discard tea bags.
• Combine sugar, 1/2 cup water, and light-colored corn syrup in a saucepan; bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
• Remove from heat; let stand 5 minutes.
• Add sugar mixture and fresh lemon juice to tea; stir to combine.
• Let cool to room temperature and pour cooled tea mixture into a 13 x 9-inch baking dish; cover and freeze for 6 hours or until firm.
• Remove tea mixture from freezer; scrape entire mixture with a fork until fluffy.
• Spoon into a container; cover and freeze for up to 1 month.
• Garnish with lemon slices and mint sprigs, if desired.